Given that the linguistic articulators for sign language are also used to produce co-speech gesture, we examined whether one year of academic instruction in American Sign Language (ASL) impacts the rate and nature of gestures produced when speaking English. A survey study revealed that 75% of ASL learners (N = 95), but only 14% of Romance language…

Examines from a creolist perspective the claim that American Sign Language (ASL) has creole origins. Applying criteria based on the work of various creole researchers, the article concludes that the evidence for creole origins of ASL does not meet any usual definition of a creole. The article discusses lexical and morhosyntactic similarities…

Discusses erroneous beliefs regarding sign language, namely, (1) sign language is one and universal, (2) its grammar is poor or nonexistant, (3) its vocabulary is concrete and figurative, (4) its "signs" consist of simply gestures, and (5) sign language mimics oral language. (AM)

Traces the history of the advances and setbacks experienced by proponents of sign language in France and in the United States from the 18th century to the present. (AM)

This material on French and Spanish "rhythms" is the result of a workshop on a trans-cultural approach in the teaching of foreign languages. It contains examples and discussions of poetry and songs from both languages, a series of short anecdotes pointing out cultural differences, mini-dramas or multi-action dramas for involving the students in a…